Ten Essex Police officers have criminal convictions

Deputy Chief Constable Derek Benson said guidelines meant it was unlikely a police candidate with a criminal conviction would now be accepted

Ten serving Essex police officers have criminal convictions ranging from robbery to drinking and driving, it has emerged.

One of those 10 has three convictions, a BBC Essex freedom of information request revealed.

Deputy Chief Constable Derek Benson said most of the offences were committed before the officers joined the police.

He said cases were judged on their own merits.

The crimes committed also include assault causing actual bodily harm and criminal damage. Two drink-driving offences were committed by officers after they were recruited.

Police and Crime Commissioner Nick Alston said some people committed offences when they were young and had since turned their lives around

One officer has three convictions.

All the officers' offences are now spent and were committed before 2009.

Mr Benson said: "There are guidelines available to us now which gives us a framework to work on as to what should or should not happen.

"It would be very unusual now for an applicant to the police service to be accepted with a criminal conviction."

The police and crime commissioner for Essex, Nick Alston, said he understood some of the offences were committed when the officers were young and those people had "turned their lives around".